Misconception
by Karri
Summary: Carlisle misconceives his new son.  Pre-Twilight.  Alice and Jasper have only recently joined the family.  Not slash


"I'm sorry, Carlisle, he's dead," Jasper whispered.

Letting his head fall back against the rough brick, Carlisle glowered up at the darkening shadows. The young family's fate had been sealed the moment the nomad had caught their scents, but he couldn't help feeling culpable, all the same. If he'd only been faster, or caught the nomad's scent sooner... Somehow, he should have been able to make a difference. Carlisle's fist slammed into the pavement beneath him, creating more cracks in its already disrepaired surface.

_Regardless, the outcome cannot be altered now, so there's little value in sitting here wishing otherwise, _he finally conceded, and, with a dispirited sigh, lifted his head. His grimace deepened into a scowl as his gaze landed on his son.

Jasper remained crouched over the child, head bowed slightly, causing his honey blond hair to fall forward and obscure his profile. _…and hide his eyes,_ Carlisle thought suddenly, suspicion, then anger, welling up within him at the realization that he'd not actually witnessed the child's demise. Had it had been the nomad who'd drained the life from the boy, or had it been his new "son"? Jasper would have had plenty of time while Carlisle was distracted with reattaching his arm…

Almost as though responding to the thought, Jasper's head abruptly turned, his still golden eyes jerking up to meet Carlisle's own. Within them swirled a storm of emotions so strong that it would have sucked the air from his lungs had Carlisle had a breath to take. Bitterness, distrust, wounded anger, despair so deep that it nearly dragged him down into the black depths of hopelessness pierced his undead heart, making him flinch. He tore his gaze away, unable to bear it, and bowed his head remorsefully.

"We should go," Jasper declared an uncomfortable minute later, bringing Carlisle's eyes back up. He kept his gaze carefully away from his son, but nodded and pushed himself to his feet.

Carlisle felt Jasper's reproachful eyes burning a hole through his back as they moved in silence. Or, perhaps, he just hoped it was reproachful, he realized sullenly, because that was better than sad or wary or, worst yet, resigned—resigned to being seen as a monster by the family Alice had promised would love him, but Jasper himself doubted ever could.

As he slid into the driver's seat, the realization that Jasper had halted a few steps away yanked Carlisle out of his self-recriminating thoughts. He sucked in an unnecessary breath and steeled himself for the possibility that he'd offended Jasper beyond repair. Daring a glance, he found an expectant, almost impatient, expression on Jasper's face. Feeling like he should know the reason behind the emotion, Carlisle's brow furrowed for a good thirty seconds as he rewound the evening back to when he'd decided to come to town in the first place—the driving lesson.

Tossing out a chagrined smile, Carlisle slid over to the passenger seat, marveling at how quickly Jasper seemed to have moved past all that had just happened. The smile faded when Jasper shrugged, as though in response to Carlisle's unspoken thought, and a storm of emotion swirled across his son's face too quickly for Carlisle to interpret, before settling into focused concentration as the car pulled away from the curb.

Jasper glanced subtly toward Carlisle as he ground his way through the first couple gear shifts, but Carlisle didn't notice, buried too deeply in his thoughts. Self-recrimination had given way to puzzlement, but the dots resisted being connected. The more he replayed the events to himself, the clearer it seemed to him that Jasper had responded to his silent accusation in the alley. Had he spoken it aloud without realizing it? Carlisle crammed his eyes shut, thinking hard about it. No, he was certain that he hadn't. Nor had he marveled aloud at Jasper's resilience when they'd reached the car, but Jasper had reacted to that thought as well. Carlisle was as positive of the reactions as he was certain that they'd been to his thoughts, not his words. His eyes popped open and narrowed upon Jasper.

_You're like Edward, aren't you?_ Carlisle screamed in his thoughts, feeling both angry and hurt that neither Jasper nor Alice had trusted them enough to share this secret. It seemed as much a confirmation as a nod of the head when Jasper rolled the car to a stop just off the side of the road, before tentatively turning his head to meet Carlisle's eyes with an expression that seemed on the verge of panic.

Carlisle's mood shifted then. Though the hurt remained, anger gave way to fear. Jasper's quiet stoicism made it all too easy to forget how deeply broken his battle-scarred new son had been by those who'd come before Alice. It had taken all the faith Jasper could muster simply to agree to stay and give the Cullens a _chance_ to show him life could be different. Carlisle had just pulled the rug out from under those tentative baby steps of trust, and now Jasper would run. He'd lose forever the opportunity to love this child that so badly needed his love. Fear gave way to despair as Carlisle's heart sank with the certainty of it, even as he reached a trembling hand toward Jasper in the vain hope of holding on to him.

Carlisle froze as Jasper flinched back, knocking the car door ajar. But then, to Carlisle's amazement he stayed, rather than bolting. Too many emotions flickered too quickly in Jasper's eyes, so Carlisle remained still, daring only to think, _Please, let me try again! I can be the father you need! Please!_

Agonized seconds passed, until Carlisle had nearly lost hold of the thread of hope Jasper's continued presence had given him. But then, as abruptly as everything else had seemed to happen that day, his son righted himself in the driver's seat, pulled the door closed, and shifted the car back into gear.

Still hardly daring to move, or even breathe, Carlisle thought, with as much sincerity and gratitude as he could muster, _Thank you._

"You welcome," he saw, more than heard, Jasper whisper in reply, and he smiled.

The End

A/N: Just to ward off any potential well-meaning corrections on the subject... Yup, I know Jasper can't read minds. He's reading Carlisle's strong emotions and interpreting them as best he can. Because he can't read minds, he doesn't know that Carlisle thinks he _can_ read minds, and thus does not correct the misconception…at least for the moment.

A/N #2: Written for my dearly loved friend, Ang, for her birthday. Happy Birthday!


End file.
